New Development
by Rezonmon
Summary: One Prototype leaves the confides of his home in the St. Paul's Hospital morgue on a hunt for the apex predator of New York Zone. On the path to completing his goal, the Blacklight virus flowing through his veins could halt his plans and leave him to the mercy of the enemy. That is, if he didn't have an amazing group of friends to help him in his time of need.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Using his scientific knowledge to study decomposing mounds of rotting flesh that used to be human beings like himself had become an everyday thing for doctor Bradley Ragland. But never in his life had he expected anything like this.

It had been a typical day, unlike any other since the outbreak in Penn Station about a month ago. Ragland carefully inspected the body of a woman who he'd managed to pick up off the streets without being turned into one of these creatures known to many by now as the Infected.

Sure, it had been a while since the outbreak of the Blacklight virus and the streets of the Red Zone where he worked was slowly being cleansed but there was still an overwhelming amount of Infected roaming about. He was only thankful that no one had found out about him helping the monster, Alex Mercer, or Blackwatch would've been knocking on his door weeks ago.

"The subject seems to show signs of pregnancy, possibly eight months before infection," Ragland spoke to himself as he externally examined the woman's bulging abdomen. "As the subject is deceased, the unborn fetus must be as well."

Lost in his own words, Ragland placed a hand over the surface of the decaying skin. Being a man of science, he understood why some lives were cut short even before they began. Unborn boys and girls who just didn't have a place in this world.

Yet he never expected what followed.

A rough jerk from under the corpse's skin made a flare of shock go off within the man's mind, forcing him to gasp, back away and almost fall over one of the nearby aluminum slabs. The movement continued as whatever it was yearned to be free, growing in size and making it's prison's skin swell. Finally, the confinement began to tear and burst open, revealing a mass of writhing black and red tendrils.

Ragland watched in horror and disbelief, attempting to back away further but lost his footing and fell, sitting up quickly to not miss a second of what was going on. Beneath the wide eyes and gaping jaw, his mind still wondered what it was trying to form.

Another infected, a Hunter?

His answer came when the inspection table buckled under the solid virus' form, causing it to fall to the floor. Seeming unable to support the body it was trying to form, the tendrils began to consume the woman who had served as it's host, giving it the strength to create a new form.

Finally, the process beginning to complete itself, the tendrils began to form a shape. First large muscles, then it's outer skin. The doctor assumed that would be the end of it, but the ever shifting mass took it a step further, creating a thick coat of rugged black fur along it's body. It finally rose, muscular arms out to the sides as an almost deafening howl tore through the silence that reigned in the morgue.

Ragland blinked, blinked again and just blinked, his body refusing to obey any of his brain's commands. The primal instincts of any human being finally kicked in when the massive monster before him finally lowered it's blood red gaze towards him. He flinched, attempting to back away further but the fold of his knee caught on the aluminum table.

The creature seemed to notice this, regarding the man before taking a step back. It became very clear that this "wolf", though large and intimidating, was nothing more than a new-born trapped in a monster's body. It's steps were unsure and wobbly, bones within being weak and almost unable to support it's massive weight.

Seeing that the creature was as unsure of him as he was afraid of it, Dr. Ragland finally attempted to stand but flinched when the creature regarded him once more. It's gleaming eyes narrowed before it suddenly sat down on it's haunches, now making the man almost a head taller than it. After what felt like an hour, the mes

sages of his mind finally made it through to his limbs as Ragland took a step forward.

The beast looked up at him when he was only few inches in front of it. Ragland carefully reached out a hand, fingers brushing against a seemingly thick coat of fur. It quickly became apparent that the wolf's fur was soaked, cold to the touch with each individual strand probably sticking together in a thick mess.

The doctor hummed to himself, other hand on his chin as he gently stroked the fur of the wolf's cheek. It seemed to enjoy the motion, as it closed it's eyes with soft whines, lips curling into a smile as it rubbed into the man's touch, prompting him to move his hand to the top of it's scruffy head. The same smile painted itself onto the man's lips, though much smaller than the wolf's.

"Hmm... it seems we may have a new development."


	2. Chapter 2

Two years and five months later and New York city slowly began to return to it's former glory. Red, Yellow and Green zones had seized to exist, making it safe for people to walk the streets once more. The Hospital, however, remained abandoned.

Ragland didn't really mind. After-all, he wasn't exactly completely alone anymore. Even if there only was one other life-form he shared the building that had become his home with.

He knew that it wasn't merely another Infected being, but a creature who could learn and adapt, much like any other human on planet Earth. Who Ragland had estimated to be a "he" was also much smarter than he'd anticipated. Through simply observing the doctor's movements over the following months, it wasn't very long before the monstrous wolf was able to learn basic words and walk upright on only two legs.

He'd even received a name:

"Cameo", a Latin name for the word "Shadow".

However, something had begun to trouble Ragland and while he was usually able to repress such thoughts through work, even that was becoming unable to quell his worry. Cameo was, for a fact, much smarter than he could let on. The Blacklight virus following the flow of blood sells through his veins had adapted to the point where it could think much like a human would. A fact that it wanted to exploit.

While examining what was left of a soldier who had been cut in half by what was only known as a Hunter, Ragland had decided that a good distraction from peering over his shoulder every two seconds with a five-year old's curiosity was to put Cameo on a website that would help him further his knowledge of the English language.

Even the doctor himself was surprised to see that world wide web was still accessible from their point. What, with his computer being the age of a dinosaur and the internet signal being so weak due to abandoned cell towers. It may well have been that fact that made him oblivious to the wolf's curiosity at the time. By the time it crossed his mind once more, it was already too late.

"Like him..."

"Hm?"

"Like him," Cameo repeated himself, glancing over his furry shoulder to be in view of Ragland's surprised face. "I'm like him."

Even from ten feet away, Ragland could tell that the creature's curiosity had gotten the better of him. He couldn't see the cheerful blue's, green's and yellow's of the site he'd left him on. Instead, he only saw red. Blood red and black. The signature colors of a creature he knew all too well.

The scalpel dropped from the man's hand before striding towards him, giving Cameo his queue to turn back to the screen before him. Ragland's jaw dropped. One image that took up the center of the screen showed a mere man, holding a soldier by his throat, a blade catching the gleam of the sun where his right arm should be. Many more of the same images littered the rest of the screen, some videos having been paused to show two piercing blue eyes.

"Cameo do something bad?"

The silence finally shattered. While he didn't understand what it was, a foreboding sense of punishment began to settle into the pit of his stomach. When his "father" did finally look at him, Cameo couldn't help but fear the worst.

"Do you want to be like him?" Ragland asked simply. It wasn't as much a question as it was a response to test his "son's" reaction. A small sense of amusement settled into the man's heart when the wolf shook his head rapidly.

"No! Me want to help. Want to save! Not... kill. Destroy."

Ragland smiled, running his black skinned hand through Cameo's fur while simultaneously turning his head away from the computer. The wolf always enjoyed this act of affection, closing his eyes and enjoying the motion as the man's hand went to the top of his furry head.

"Then we still have a lot of work to do, Cameo."


	3. Chapter 3

**YahBoyParagon: I hope this is the length you had in mind. Next one will also be a short chapter but things will really pick up speed in Chapter 5. At least, I hope so.**

* * *

><p>Four years, ten months and the outbreak of New York had finally been eradicated. City streets were hustling and bustling with people going back and forth from their day jobs once more, instead of disgusting infected screaming for their next meal. All was back to normal. At least, for everyone else.<p>

* * *

><p>He was free! Free as a gull, swooping and diving above the ocean's surface, greeting it's brethren with a pitched squeak.<p>

That's how he felt. With the wind in his fur and a smile the size of an eight of a watermelon plastered across his black rimmed lips. Nothing could stop him. The only thing proving his existence being the concrete craters his paws left whenever he had to clear a gap between the building roofs, or scale the height of a wall to continue his hurried pace.

Blacklight was gone, which left no reason for Blackwatch helicopters to circle the island of Manhattan like dragonflies. Or Blackwatch troops to patrol the streets below. Which also left no reason for Cameo himself to hold back in his escapades.

A buzzing sound followed by a ticklish sensation in his side suddenly intruded on his pleasure, forcing the Infected wolf to skid to a halt on the corner of a building's roof, unintentionally giving him a perfect view of the small park below. Cameo took a moment to take pleasure in the sight of children playing games such as tag and hide-and-seek, mothers and fathers keeping a close eye to keep their younglings out of trouble.

"Sup dad?"

"You're really becoming too acquainted with that phrase, Cameo," Ragland replied from his end of the cordless line, smile on his features reflecting the one still on his son's snout. "Enjoying yourself, I see."

"Yeah," Cameo said in thought, looking up from the handheld screen in between his thumb and index fingers, middle-, ring- and pinkie balled behind it to support the phone's slight weight. "Just getting a little bored of seeing the same scenery everyday."

"I see. ...Don't worry. We'll find a way for you to leave New York someday."

The wolf's smile only seemed to widen into a grin at his father's reassuring words. The outbreak was over, that much they knew, but for some reason, Blackwatch refused to lift the quarantine that had been placed on the island. Many had begun to speculate that Blacklight hadn't truly been eradicated as they all had thought.

That much was true, Cameo being a living example of that, but he had never used any of his abilities in public before. For the most part, he'd stayed in the shadows of the human population through taking on the form of an unknown homeless man, only altering the latter's appearance to suit the wolf's style.

"Cameo," Ragland's voice suddenly cut his thoughts short, making the mentioned wolf realize that he was staring off into space. He glanced back at the screen for the doctor to continue, "The reason I'm calling is that I've realized that I've run out of Disinfectant. There should be a pharmacy near you. Do you mind getting it for me?"

"Oh sure. It'll be a piece of cake, dad."

The connection was cut before Cameo could find a safe place to drop down from. After a few minutes of searching, he came across the pharmacy Ragland had mentioned. He easily cleared the gap between him and the roof, dropping down and changing to his more human form before entering through the back door. He'd found that it was the best way to avoid suspicions after-all.

* * *

><p>While Cameo used his time to stretch his legs, Ragland passed the time with less physical activities. Since the outbreak came to an end, the infected bodies he had to inspect had become fewer and fewer until they disappeared completely. Now, he only had the samples taken from them to study to find out how the virus ticked. Yet there was something else he found much more important.<p>

Ragland pressed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose as they were beginning to slide out of place from him leaning forward for so long, staring at the screen before him while analyzing the scraps of paper Cameo had thoughtlessly strewn all over the place.

Over the last two years, he'd found that his adoptive son was serious about honing his abilities to help and save people, crossing the line that law enforcement never could. Sometimes, in the dead of night, he would wake to find the young wolf sitting in front of the computer, pencil and piece of paper in front of him while studying the screen with intent. All these scraps of paper came together to form plans and designs for his own arsenal of weapons. Ranging from claws to blades and even one which showed his own armored up form.

A small smile spread across the doctor's features as he couldn't help but think of everything Cameo would accomplish. So this is how every proud father felt. He had not seen any of these weapons in action just yet, but the gut-instincts he'd developed over the years told him that that will soon change.

The double doors leading to the morgue almost being flung from their hinges made for an unwelcome scare.

* * *

><p>Running across rooftops was fun and all but sometimes he just enjoyed the simpler things in life. Such as following the flow of pedestrians flooding the city's sidewalks. What made this experience even better was the bubbly deliciousness of a cold soda flowing down his throat. Cameo wasn't really the type to eat or drink any type of junk food that may come his way but why not enjoy some of life's guiltier pleasures from time to time.<p>

Upon passing a TV shop, the young wolf couldn't help but notice something odd out of his peripheral vision. A large number of people had gathered in front of the display window to watch what obviously wasn't the morning news. Some mouths were agape at what they saw, while overs were covered with frail hands in disbelief.

Deciding to put his enhanced hearing to good use, Cameo perked both his ears to try and eavesdrop on what was being broadcasted.

"A women was killed last night in Central Park by what eyewitnesses describe as a "walking corpse". Gentek officials have not verified that the assailant was well infected with what was known as the Redlight virus, which was thought to be eradicated four years ago."

His soft drink accidentally rushed in the wrong direction before a spray of the sticky liquid sprayed his entire face. Cameo coughed violently, clasping a hand over his mouth and turning away from the crowd so that no one would notice. Everyone was too entranced in what was being broadcasted to really pay attention.

~Redlight!? That's supposed to be a variant of the Blacklight virus. This can't be...~

"No violent outbreaks have been reported yet. But there have been sightings of Alex Mercer, the man largely responsible for the original outbreak."

Murmurs of surprise and disbelief rang through the crowd as the name made something in his biomass brain click, the newspaper article he'd read a few years ago flashing through his memories. The image appearing on the screens only made them more clear.

Alex Mercer was a scientist working at Gentek and who was responsible for creating Blacklight in the first place. The article didn't give many details but something happened to make him evolve into the Apex Predator of NYZ. Following his own rules, claiming more and more lives as the days passed. If he was back... that could only spell disaster.

"Oh Lord," Cameo finally cursed. "I have to warn dad!"

Everything was tuned out as only the constant clack-clack-clack of his sneakers could be heard against the sidewalk, half-empty soda-can having clattered to the floor.

* * *

><p>"What is the meaning of this?" Ragland exclaimed with a hint of disbelief, watching helplessly as the gas-mask wearing soldiers hauled away the remains of the infected he had carefully studied for the past four years. Four years of work that were now probably going to be incinerated for whatever reason Blackwatch was collecting them.<p>

"That's the last of them, sir," a camouflage clad soldier relayed to his commander, ignoring the morgue tech's cries. "All infected bodies are present and accounted for."

"Good," the gruff sounding man replied simply. "Men, move out!"

"What do you think you're doing!? I was authorized to take these for further research. I **do not** remember being informed that the specimens will be recollected!"

"Can it doc!" the highest ranked of the group barked, joining Ragland in a glaring contest from behind his mask. "You no longer work for Gentek. These fucking pieces of spoiled meat belong to them anyway. So get in the way and I'll shoot and burn your corpse along with the rest of them."

Ragland felt himself froze. These "men" were ruthless monsters, so it would be a surprise if they didn't shoot him in the head before leaving. Someone abruptly clearing their throat made the commander turn round with an audible groan of frustration, only to be met with two blazing scarlet eyes and a unbelievably strong grip to the throat. His subordinate quickly raised his gun on instincts but was stopped dead in his tracks by the beast shifting it's glare to him.

"I'm in a bad mood already, so unless you want to avoid a bloodbath," Cameo growled angrily, tightening his grip on the man's throat to make him cough and choke. "Leave... **Now!**"

Both commander and soldier did as they were told, making a headlong dash for the doors before bursting through them with loud screams of terror. Ragland finally let out the breath he'd subconsciously been holding for the entirety of the raid before taking a look at his Blacklight enhanced son, who still had his sights set on the double doors leading to the morgue.

"Phew! Thank goodness for small miracles."

"You were never one to believe in miracles, dad," Cameo joked with a smile as he looked back at his father, lowering onto all fours to have his head scratched. Ragland couldn't help but smile as well. Cameo was always one for jokes.

"Did you get what I asked for?"

"Yep, right here," the wolf's smile widened as he held up the small white bag, blackish/brown bottles hazily visible from the outside. "...But, I think we have a serious problem."


	4. Chapter 4

**I know, I know.**

**How long has it been? My Inner-Artist has replaced my Inner-Writer and I can't compose anything besides a Character Profile. If there are a ton of faults in this chapter, you'd know what to blame.**

**Anyway, don't expect a new chapter anytime soon. Same for Digi-Lords. I can't even remember it's name...**

* * *

><p>"Alex..."<p>

Cameo looked down at his father with unblinking eyes, the latter being slumped forward in his chair with his fingers intertwined, staring at the computer screen and the article present. It was the original article the large wolf had managed to dig up in his younger years, displaying Alex Mercer with his signature blade, holding a soldier by his throat. Probably to consume or merely kill him for pleasure.

"I cant believe he's back."

Ragland suddenly spun his chair round so that he could be face to face with his son, questions running endlessly through his mind. Cameo merely tilted his head to the side, waiting to answer said questions.

"Blackwatch is the only way for us to find out what is happening. Why the virus has not been destroyed..."

"Dad. The only Blackwatch base that's still standing is Red Crown Command. Are you sure?" Cameo couldn't help himself but argue, watching his father with a slight twitch in his usually unwavering gaze. Fear, fear of being discovered was what kept him inside the morgue for so long. Infiltrating such a heavily armed base could only mean suicide.

Ragland's gaze met his perfectly. Even **he** knew what was going through the boy's mind at the moment. But then again, the latter was no longer a boy. The creature he was looking at had the potential to be the next Alex Mercer: an unstoppable killing machine that would go after anything it set it's sight on.

"Be careful out there Cameo," was all that Ragland said before turning back to his computer. The wolf only looked down at him, ears drooping by the sides of his head. They almost immediately sprang back into place.

A warm wisp of air brushed against Ragland's back and by the time he could turn around, the wolf was gone.


End file.
